Hollywood powers Viacom (which owns Paramount), Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are defying all odds to launch a bold service, called Epix, that hopes to break into the premium TV business long dominated by HBO, Showtime and Starz.

Here's your chance to prove your forecasting prowess: Make your own predictions in the 13th annual USA TODAY Media Prognostication Contest. The contest is open to all in three categories: readers; industry players (such as executives, consultants, journalists and stars); and Wall Streeters. You have until Jan. 31 to enter by mail or online.

Television is giving Dennis Hopper a sense of freedom he used to feel in movies. "You can suddenly be freer on cable television than you can on film these days," says Hopper, who stars in Crash (Starz, Friday, 10 ET/PT), an adaptation of the Oscar-winning film.

With a raft of weird roles to his credit, Dennis Hopper might well yawn about playing another wacko. Yet Hopper is totally tickled by his outrageous new alter ego, freaky Los Angeles music producer Ben Cendars in the Starz series "Crash."

HBO named a new series-programming chief Wednesday, hoping to reverse a slide in stature as the standard-bearer for quality series. Sue Naegle, 38, a top TV agent at United Talent Agency, will take the reins of the pay-cable network's original series arm, her first job outside UTA.

Cable movie channels are taking an unusual route to get noticed by original series. Starz, the pay-cable movie network, is the latest entry into series production with two new comedies premiering tonight, Head Case (10 ET/PT) and Hollywood Residential (10:30 ET/PT).